


the wonder in me

by levlinwinlaer



Series: the hogwarts au [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Hogwarts AU, Patronus, SuperCorp, also cat is headmaster of hogwarts and lena's adopted mum, also not to shamelessly self-promote but, lena's patronus is a slug, mon-el is still garbage surprise, super crackfic but also kind of angsty it's my patented style, this is essentially the hogwarts version of my supercorp fuckwit chatfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2019-01-04 15:14:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12171426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/levlinwinlaer/pseuds/levlinwinlaer
Summary: Winn's Patronus is a crow. Lucy gets a panther. James gets a lion. Kara (because of fucking course) gets a unicorn.Lena?Lena gets a slug.





	the wonder in me

‘Lena!’ Kara calls, waving her over to the Gryffindor table with a heart-melting grin. ‘Did you hear? Today in Henshaw’s we’re doing the Patronus!’

‘Sounds good,’ Lena says, numbly eating a piece of toast.

Kara frowns. ‘Are you alright?’

Lena eats another piece of toast, completely dry. ‘Mm.’

‘Are you worried about summoning a Patronus?’

Lena blinks, stares at the pile of dry toast on her plate. ‘Yeah, a little.’

Kara smiles sympathetically. ‘I heard that one guy got a wombat, so you can’t get much worse, right?’

‘…Right,’ Lena says morosely, poking at the heap of toast.

Kara frowns. ‘Are you worried about getting a Patronus like your mum’s?’

At that, the table quiets, and James stiffens. Lillian Luthor’s Patronus is famous, not only for its ability to solidify and kill, but for the irony of the shape it took. A Dementor Patronus. James had lost his parents to it, several years ago.

‘Yeah,’ Lena says quietly.

Kara smiles. ‘Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll get something wonderful, like a bunny!’

‘Wonderful?’ Winn says, disbelieving. ‘A bunny? How’s that supposed to instil fear into the hearts of Dementors?’

The table launches into a debate about the objective terror level of bunnies, and Kara reaches under the table to grab Lena’s hand.

‘You’ll be wonderful,’ she says.

 

\--

 

‘Students!’ Professor Henshaw says, striding into his classroom and ducking the good-natured projectiles with practiced ease. ‘Today we will be in the courtyard, because I don’t trust Schott not to ‘accidentally’ cause another explosion.’

‘In my defence, I had no idea the Expelling charm would react like that-‘

‘Courtyard. Now.’

The Willow thrashes cheerfully at them, and Kara waves back. The squid surfaces to give them a dubious look, and then disappears again.

‘Disperse,’ Henshaw says, ‘and try to summon a Patronus like we discussed last class.’

Lena trots over to claim a corner of the courtyard, and closes her eyes. She thinks of Hogwarts and an excited sunshine-spill of a person, the fondly annoyed sarcasm of her foster mum, the apartment in London that she calls home in the summer, of a winter house with a mismatched glow of love and a mailbox decorated by a five-year old Kara and a seven-year old Alex.

The familiar tingle of her magic spreads to her fingertips, into her wand, and 'Expecto Patronum,' she whispers, and there's a flash of blue light, and her heart jumps into her throat, and she looks down to see-

'A... slug?'

The slug looks up at her, eyestalks twitching, and then promptly gives up and flops over on the ground.

Just as if the universe is rubbing salt in her wound, Professor Henshaw strides over. 'Luthor!' he says. 'Where's your Patronus? I would've thought you'd make it on the first try.'

This is the cue for the whole class to look over, and Lena, very weakly, points at the white-and-blue slug on the ground. It lolls over, aims an eyestalk at Henshaw, and lets out a slug equivalent of a sigh. The class titters, and Lena goes bright red.

Henshaw's eyebrows are practically at his hairline. 'A slug.'

'It's a nice slug,' Kara says bemusedly, leaning against her (of fucking  _course_ ) unicorn. 'I like the blue stripes.'

'Oh well,' Henshaw says, a little strained. 'I'm sure it'll serve you well.'

The slug rolls over and ends up on its back (do slugs have backs? It's not like Lena knows). It waves its eyestalks lazily for a moment before giving up and lolling back.

'Alright, well. Class dismissed.' Henshaw gives the slug another odd look. Every student's Patronus disappears, except for the slug. Lena glares at it for a moment before shouldering her bookbag and stomping away. Behind her, unseen, the slug gives her a frustrated wave of the eyestalks and starts moving after her.

Four hours later, she's still facedown on her bed, when there's a squelch very close to her ear. She squeaks, sits up abruptly, and comes eye to eyestalk with the slug. It gives her a disapproving look (do slugs have the capacity for facial expressions?) and squelches angrily.

'Go away,' Lena says, a little desperately. 'Please.'

The slug squelches at her again. Lena groans and bashes her head against the headboard. The slug rolls its eyes, which,  _what? Can slugs even do that?_

'No. Stop with the disapproving expressions,' she says, pointing accusingly at the slug. 'I don't need a slug to make me feel even worse about myself. I have the Luthors for that.'

The slug heaves itself up her bedspread and swats her cheek with an unsympathetic eyestalk.

 

\--

 

'I see,' Headmaster Grant says, trying (and failing) to hide her smirk. 'So what do you want again?'

'How,' Lena says stiffly, 'do you change your Patronus?'

Headmaster Grant's eyes fall to the slug perched on her desk, and she steeples her fingers, attempting (and, again, failing) not to snort. The slug aims a dubious eyestalk at her, then squelches over, and rubs itself against her arm. Lena scowls at the betrayal.

'Well, Luthor, I'm afraid you're stuck with it. But it is wonderful that you've found a Patronus that so... matches your predispositions.'

Lena glares hatefully at the slug, then turns and marches out the door. The slug lets out a long-suffering sigh and flops off the desk, squelching angrily after her. It catches up to her an hour later, in the dining hall, and she's made very aware of it by an eyestalk whipping against her bare ankle. Lena lets out a screech, barely hidden as a cough, and bends to look under the table. Sure enough, the slug stares up at her.

'Oh, Merlin,' Lena whispers. 'Go away!'

The slug gives her a hateful look.

'Are you going to follow me everywhere I go?'

One eyestalk waves in annoyed confirmation.

'But how? Do you not have magic? Do you just squelch everywhere?'

The slug rumbles apathetically, and then-

‘Er, Lena? Are you alright? Did you spill something?’

Lena sits upright a little too fast and bashes her head into the table. She swears, and clutches her head, shooting the slug a glare. ‘Yes, Winn, I’m alright. Just, er, checking under the table. For, er, something.’

Winn frowns at her, and Lena distracts him with a plan for a new shielding charm. Kara chimes in cheerfully, the slug whips her ankle again, and Lena resolves to ignore her Patronus for as long as it takes for it to go away.

‘Yes! I think that the duelling team could really use a shield charm which can bounce off stuff like the Expelliarmus,’ Winn says, and yanks out a quill, sketching a design onto a napkin.

‘That sounds really interesting,’ Kara says, studying the design intently. ‘So we utilise the _Priori Incantatem_ theory?’

‘Well, you’re the captain of the team,’ Winn says, ‘But I think that _Priori Incantatem_ might be more for individual defences against specific opponents.’

‘But the principle remains the same,’ Kara says, ‘We could create a charm with the Expelling and the Disarming properties, so when someone casts a spell, the polarity of two Disarming spells forces it to repel, and the Expelling sends it back toward the caster.’

Lena stares at her. ‘Kara, you genius!’

Kara blushes, looks down at her heaping stack of food. They spend the next few moments in a companionable chatter, offering ideas, and then the Headmaster rings the meal-end bell. There’s the typical noise as mealtime finishes and the students file away.

Lena stands up from her spot at the Ravenclaw table and walks away, determined to ignore her Patronus. She pauses after a few steps, and turns to look back at the slug, which is now dutifully oozing after her. She watches it trek slowly across the floor, and sighs, going back to it and scooping it up. She puts it in a pocket of her cloak, and it rumbles happily.

'Not a word,' she warns Headmaster Grant, who looks to be on the verge of asphyxiating laughter.

'I'm your headmaster, Luthor,' Headmaster Grant says, giving her a fondly dangerous look. 'Watch your mouth.'

'Yeah, well.' Lena glares. 'That's what you get for adopting me.'

As Lena storms out, the slug pokes an eyestalk out and waves it at the Headmaster, and she cackles.

 

\--

 

Kara falls into step with her on her way to the Ravenclaw common room.

'How are you?' she asks cheerfully.

'I'd be better without this!' Lena fumes, and pulls the slug out of her pocket.

The slug looks at Kara adoringly, which is really  _not fair_. Kara smiles at it immediately and coos, reaching out to touch between its eyestalks. It squelches happily.

'What's its name?' Kara asks. Lena frowns.

'It's a _slug_.'

'It's your _Patronus_! My unicorn-' and then Kara goes silent abruptly, blushing.

'Your unicorn what?' Lena asks, tilting her head. Kara blushes even redder.

'Nothing!' she says, very quickly and very high-pitched. 'I mean, of course, there's something, but well, I mean, nothing really.'

'Oh,' Lena says, giving Kara a strange look. 'Well. If you're sure.'

'I am sure,' Kara says, giving Lena a slightly strained smile. 'It's just- well- it sounds a bit weird, doesn't it, but even so-'

'What is it?' Lena prompts.

'Er- well, I maybe sort of named my Patronus after you?'

Lena reels in shock, nearly dropping the slug. It squelches, offended, and she puts it back in her pocket. 'You-  _what_?'

'I mean-' Kara says, flustered- 'it just sort of reminded me of you?'

'Oh, Kara, I'm touched,' Lena says. 'But well,' and she glances down at the slug, 'well, I don't think you'd want to share a name with a slug.'

'It's a lovely slug,' Kara says, and the slug preens. ‘So what will you name it?’

Lena shrugs.

Winn, as always, has an answer. ‘Katsūyu,’ he says.

Lena frowns. ‘Katsūyu? That sounds Japanese.’

‘It is,’ Winn says. ‘It’s from a Japanese show, called, er- well, I don’t think you know it.’

‘Alright,’ Lena says, a tad dubiously, and goes to the Muggle Culture section of the library. It takes a few magic searches, but she finds a whole selection of books.

‘Cat,’ she says, dropping the stack of books on her desk and leaning in, very, very close. ‘What is Naruto?’

Cat cocks an eyebrow and stares at Lena, who maintains a very serious expression.

‘Firstly, brat,’ she says affectionately, ‘you will call me _Headmaster_ when in Hogwarts. Secondly, I have no idea, nor do I want to know.’

Lena, being a mature and responsible teenager, does _not_ stomp her foot on the way out. Cat just laughs.

So, she resorts to the Muggle way.

Google.

She finds a few tidbits of useful information, buried deep in the badly drawn pornography that haunts the bowels of the Internet, and emerges triumphant but scarred for life.

‘Okay, Katsūyu,’ she says, holding the slug up to her eye level. ‘Let’s try something.’

The slug looks at her, then attempts to squelch off her hand, but she scoops it up again with an indignant cry.

‘Hold still,’ she instructs, then points her wand at it and says, ‘Expecto Patronum!’

The slug doubles in size, and looks interested in the new development for a moment before reverting to its usual state of annoyed apathy.

‘Cat!’ she shouts, storming into her office and practically slamming the slug down on her desk. Cat and the slug level her with matching unimpressed stares. ‘It’s bigger!’

‘Yes, I do have eyes. Yes, I am doing well today. How kind of you to ask. Sit down, brat.’

Lena sits, and glowers at the slug. ‘Why isn’t it going away?’

Cat regards it thoughtfully. ‘ _That_ is odd. I’ve never heard of a permanent Patronus. Perhaps a constant guardian spell?’

Lena frowns at her. ‘Did _you_ cast this?’

‘No. I don’t even think there’s a spell for it. If there’s one, then it’s-‘ and she cocks an eyebrow at the slug- ‘not yet quite… advanced.’

‘Can you take it away?’

Cat gives her a dubious expression, then picks up the slug and walks to the corner of her office, setting it down. It oozes back over to Lena with an irritated wave of its eyestalks.

‘It seems as if it can sense where you are. So, not in a physical sense. But-’ and she closes her eyes and murmurs a counter-curse. Nothing happens. She opens her eyes. ‘Okay. No.’

‘But I need to get rid of it before the duelling tournament!’

‘Why?’

‘Because- I mean- it’s a _slug_! I’d be the laughingstock of the whole of Hogwarts!’

‘It’s not as if anyone _doesn’t_ already know.’

Lena pauses. ‘That’s true. But still!’

‘Keep it in your pocket, brat. You never know.’

Lena huffs, shoves the slug into her pocket, and marches out the door with the shards of her dignity held close to her chest. Cat watches her go with a fondly amused look.

 

\--

 

The Durmstrang students arrive on a Friday afternoon, striding into the Hall with a cocky swagger. At their head is the most irritating (and pompous) wizard of them all.

‘Hogwarts,’ he says with a sneer, glancing around. ‘No better than what is was last time, except-‘ and he leers at the Gryffindor table, ‘the lovely Kara. Have you thought about my offer?’

‘Watch your mouth,’ Lena snaps, and Cat gives her a look that’s more proud than disapproving.

‘Hm. The Luthor brat.’ He sizes her up with a condescending grin. ‘The competition looks a little poor this year. There was a better showing in France.’

‘Mm. Have you graduated from the ‘one spell fits all’ phase yet?’

He scowls. ‘I’m better than you, Luthor. Mock all you want.’ And he strides off, nose in the air and posse trailing behind him.

Lena feels the sudden urge to land her fist right in the middle of his pompous little self-aggrandizing face, but suppresses it. Kara shuffles over to her.

‘We’re gonna kick their butts,’ she says determinedly.

Lena laughs darkly. ‘We’d better.’

 

\--

 

The next morning, Headmaster Grant summons the duelling team to her office. She regards them with a steely expression, hands folded neatly beneath her chin.

‘Where’s Kara?’ Lena asks. ‘Is she okay? Did something happen?’

‘Yes, she’s fine,’ Cat says. ‘Here’s the problem. Durmstrang arrived with fewer duellers than they anticipated. They requested a temporary transfer, and I drew straws. I’m afraid one of you will be duelling against your captain.’

‘No,’ Lena says, outraged. ‘What! It was rigged! You know it was rigged!’

‘Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about it. Luthor, you are the temporary captain for this week’s duelling match. Olsen, you’re the second. Meet with Schott after breakfast for equipment, and study your shield charms. Now get out of my office and show them what a real magic school looks like.’

Lena stays stubbornly in her seat as the rest file out the door. James shoots her a sympathetic look as he closes the door behind him.

‘You _know_ it was rigged,’ she insists stubbornly. ‘Mon-El has been talking about recruiting Kara for ages, you _know_ he brought too few duellers on purpose!’

‘Lena,’ Cat says, taking off her glasses and folding them neatly, ‘should you end up duelling Kara, I do not want you to concede. That is all.’

Lena storms out.

 

\--

 

‘What do I do, Katsūyu?’ she asks, holding the slug up. ‘I don’t- if I end up duelling Kara, I’ll- well. I’d better hope James gets pitted against her- but that’s so horrible, I can’t do that.’

The slug just stares at her, and then flicks its eyestalks forward.

‘What?’ Another flick. ‘I don’t understand-‘ And this time Katsūyu rolls itself off her hand and pointedly squelches in the other direction.

She turns, just in time to see Kara round the corner, looking frazzled.

‘Lena!’ she says, ‘Lena, Merlin, I’m so sorry, I had _no idea_ -‘

‘It’s fine,’ Lena says, with a grimace that she hopes passes for a smile.

‘No, it’s not,’ Kara insists. ‘They keep- well- asking me to talk about our strategies, and who they should look out for, and they keep asking me about you, and actually I think they’re scared of you, which is weird because you’re wonderful but I suppose to an opponent you’d be very scary with all of your magic and such but I can’t tell them anything because that’s betraying the honour of my team but I did tell them that they ought to be scared of you because you’re super awesome and-‘ she pauses for a breath and Lena shakes herself out of a stupid smile.

‘It’s not your fault, Kara. I just hope that we can win without one of our best.’

‘Well, we still have _you_ ,’ she says with a beam.

‘Kara,’ Lena says in a rush of breath, ‘I don’t want to fight you.’

Kara blinks at her. ‘What?’

‘If I duel you. I won’t be able to- can you- I don’t know. I just- well- I couldn’t do it.’

‘You duel James all the time,’ Kara points out, brows furrowing.

‘Well, I don’t- not that I don’t _care_ about James, because of course I do, but he’s not- well- he’s not you.’

Kara looks at her for a moment and then steps close to brush a kiss against Lena’s cheek. ‘I’ll do my best,’ she promises, and then practically sprints away.

Lena, steadily turning several shades of red, bends to pick up Katsūyu.

It forms a heart with its eyestalks and gives her a Look.

‘Shut up, you,’ she tells it affectionately, and puts it back in her custom-made slug pocket.

 

\--

 

‘Here’s a shielding charm,’ Winn says, and tosses her a necklace. He pauses for a dramatic moment, grinning, then slides another necklace over the table; an exact replica, but smaller.

‘For the slug,’ he tells her, and she sticks her tongue out at him.

The first round sets Lena up against one of the part-fae duellers. She’s read about all of them, but this one in particular- her grandmother, if rumour is to be believed, was a siren, and she’s inherited a part of the Song.

Lena twirls her wand neatly and casts a deafening spell, training her eyes on the girl’s mouth. It’s not so much of a serious duel without the Song, but she catches Lena with a very unexpected water spell that leaves Lena dripping and Katsūyu shivering unhappily. It doesn’t do much, though, and Lena puts her into a full-body lock and leaves to go change.

Her second match is against a boy who was, apparently, raised by Nordic dragons. He casts a spell that sends hundreds of glittering needles of ice shooting toward her, and a few too many pass through her shield charm. One slashes down toward her in a delicate arc, and it should only skim her robe, but-  _that damned slug_ \- she thinks, and turns at the last second, and it pierces her forearm in a sharp flash of pain. She hisses, and then the boy places his wand just in front of his mouth and blows, and an enormous cloud of fire billows toward her, sparking and singing heat, and she throws herself out of the way and casts a frantic Extinguishing spell.

His eyes narrow, flashing silver, and then he kneels, and places a hand against the duelling platform.

‘Dragon Spell,’ he says. ‘ _Terra._ ’

The platform bursts up under Lena’s feet, stabbing up into her legs. She murmurs a quick spell to float above it, but the branches reach for her ankles with astonishing persistence. Blood drips from her shoes, splattering onto the duelling platform below her, and it's then that she grins, teeth bared.

‘Thank you,’ she says, and the dragon boy has barely enough time to look confused before- ‘Luthor blood spell,’ and that’s when he starts to back away, but not fast enough. ‘ _Rubeus_!’ she shouts, victorious, and the platform explodes in a spark of red. He’s tossed ten metres into the air.

Lena catches him with a Gravity spell and locks him in place, lowering herself back onto the charred remains of the platform.

‘You really do have to stop with the drama, brat,’ Cat says, striding over to her and scanning her bleeding ankles. ‘All this ‘rubeus’ nonsense has really put a dent in our repairs budget.’

‘That was so cool!’ Winn shouts, sprinting over. ‘Merlin, I didn’t think you’d gotten that far with the Destroying Blood Spell!’

‘Destroying Blood Spell,’ Cat repeats, eyebrow climbing higher on her face. ‘What do you think I meant when I said ‘you may experiment with the blood spells, but you will commit to safety first’?’

‘Er, sorry?’ Lena offers sheepishly, and Cat scowls, healing her ankles with a flick of her wand. ‘It was cool, though, right?’

Cat hides her grin. ‘Mm.’

 

\--

 

The two teams are decently tied, with the score 4-3 for Hogwarts, when Kara jumps up onto the duelling platform. Mon-El hoots from the sidelines, and Lena discreetly fixes him with a _Furnunculus_. Cat stands, flicking up her glasses and opening the scroll.

‘Danvers, for Durmstrang,’ she says, and then pauses, brow furrowing. Lena’s stomach drops. ‘And, for Hogwarts…’

 _Please_ , Lena prays, let it not be-

‘Olsen.’

‘Thank Merlin,’ Lena says aloud with an audible gasp of relief, and then frowns as the words register. ‘Oh. James?’

James gulps, and then stands, walking up the platform. Kara smiles apologetically as she shakes his hand and then moves back to her spot.

Cat observes them lazily, hiding her worry behind steel and half-lidded eyes. ‘You may commence,’ she says.

James casts the first spell, a simple _Entomorphus_ that Kara blocks with barely a flick of her wand. She observes James with a deceptively easygoing expression, watches him falter as he casts a shielding spell, and then, without warning, James is dangling from a _Levicorpus_. Amid surprised murmurs, Lena is suddenly reminded of exactly why Kara is Hogwarts’ best dueller; she was learning nonverbal spells before she could walk, and that practice has paid off. There are rumours that Kara has already been offered an Auror job straight out of Hogwarts. Lena doesn’t doubt it.

‘ _Liberacorpus_ ,’ James says, and the moment he’s back on the ground, he casts a Ventus Jinx. Kara blocks it, her hair fluttering in the wind, and James takes advantage of the momentary pause to cast a _Geminio_.

This is his signature move; the Double-Dueller. He usually waits much longer into a duel to cast it, given the kind of mental strain it puts on him to control two separate bodies at once, but, well- this is _Kara Danvers_.

‘ _Bombarda_ ,’ says one, at the same time the other says, ‘ _Tarantallegra_!’

Kara dodges the _Bombarda_ and blocks the _Tarantallegra_ , and she seems content with defending until Durmstrang starts to boo her. Lena hexes their mouths shut, but Kara’s eyes narrow, and then when one of the James’ casts an  _Engorgio_ , Kara casts a countercurse, and then an _Epoximise_. The two James fly together in what seems to be a nasty collision. One of them disappears. The real James staggers, casting a _Glacius Tria_. Kara blocks it, but she’s forced back a step by the ice crawling up under her feet.

The Hogwarts side is silent, most of them unsure of who to cheer for. The only sound is heavy breathing, interspersed with James’ spells. Kara watches him with careful eyes; he really _is_ good, and they’ve sparred enough that she knows about the kind of things his jinxes can do to someone.

They trade curses and hexes until both of them are breathing heavily and the crowd is going restless. Kara gets that analytical look that Lena knows all too well; it’s the one where you know she’s about to pull out one of her aces. James recognises it too, from the widening of his eyes.

Kara holds out her wand, weighs it in her hand, obviously considering the extent of the rest of her magic, and then she speaks for the first time in the duel.

‘ _Invorto hora_ ,’ she says, and suddenly the world shifts, and Lena experiences the odd sensation of going back in time and retaining memory of the future. Katsūyu trembles in her pocket, and she puts a hand over it to calm it. Kara takes advantage of the disorientation.

‘ _Immobulus,_ ’ she says, and after a stunned silence, the room erupts in applause and shouts.

‘Danvers!’ Cat says calmly, casting a _Sonorous_ and levitating above the platform. ‘We will give you this match, but refrain from casting Auror-level spells during simple duelling matches.’

‘Yes, Headmaster,’ Kara says abashedly, removing the _Immobulus_.

‘Christ,’ comes a voice from behind Lena. ‘The kid’s good. I think there’s two people in the Aurors who can cast that, and one of them’s Alex.’

‘Lucy,’ she says, startled, and the Auror rewards her with a beam.

‘Do you like my disguise?’ she asks smugly, gesturing down at her miniature body.

‘It’s not all that different,’ Lena snickers, ‘you’ve only got a few inches on a House Elf- hey!’

Lucy scowls up at her. ‘I’m here on official business,’ she says imperiously, tucking the rolling pin back up her sleeve. ‘The Minister wants an Auror to observe the duelling matches because he suspects foul play.’

‘Well, it _is_ Mon-El, but I can’t imagine-‘

‘Not that kind,’ Lucy says, suddenly serious. ‘Try Unforgivables.’

‘Oh,’ Lena says, and Lucy nods.

‘Keep an eye out, kid. I’ll see you around. Go congratulate your girlfriend for me.’

‘She’s not-‘ Lena starts, but Lucy's melted back into the crowd, assuming a new disguise faster than Lena can see.

‘Little toad,’ Lena mutters, and, suspiciously, gets a wand to the stomach as she weaves her way through the crowd to a blushing Kara and a wryly smiling James.

 

\--

 

‘Order!’ Cat snaps at the next day’s breakfast, and gives them all an imperious stare terrifying enough to silence even the Durmstrang students. ‘Today will be the final match to decide the winner of the Annual Duelling Tournament. The current score is four to four, with the recent Durmstrang victory, and thus this match will be key. While traditionally, we select the witch or wizard with the longest winning streak from each team, I’m afraid that due to the shuffling of the teams we must give up that tradition. So we will have the captain of the Durmstrang team, Mon-El, at zero matches and zero victories. And, for Hogwarts, at two matches and two victories, Lena Luthor.’

Mon-El scowls at the not-so-subtle jab but swaggers up to shake Lena’s hand. She wipes it surreptitiously on her robes when she pulls away.

‘Get ready to lose,’ he says.

‘You wish,’ she says pleasantly.

Kara taps her shoulder right before she climbs up onto the championship platform.

‘You've got this,’ she says with the kind of smile that leaves Lena helpless and Katsūyu sighing happily.

And there’s nothing else to do but agree.

 

Mon-El casts the first spell, an _Expelliarmus_. It’s laughably easy to deflect, and Lena frowns as she counters it. He follows it with more second-year spells in rapid succession, and Lena realises- he’s tiring her out, emptying her already-depleted reserves.

‘That's quite a nice move you've got there. Mind getting some spells beyond a second-year's?’ she says by means of distraction, and it works- he stops, and glares at her.

‘You don’t know the slightest thing about me,’ he snaps. ‘I’m a genius- the brightest wizard of my age!’

Lena’s eyes narrow. That had been Cat, and Lillian two years before her. ‘You don’t deserve that title. It’s not even yours.’

‘Yes, it is!’ Mon-El shouts, eyes narrowing. ‘I’m better than you- than all of you! My bloodline is the purest in the world!’

Lena stiffens. ‘You think being a pureblood is all there is to it?’

‘Yeah, and you’re one to talk,’ Mon-El says derisively. ‘The only reason you’ve come so far is because of your Luthor blood spells. So how about I show you mine?’

And then he presses his wand to his forehead. ‘Daxam blood spell!’ he shouts. ‘ _Extinguo_!’

Lena’s shield charm collapses, and her robe tears, blood welling in a thousand little cuts. Katsūyu writhes in her pocket, and she reaches down to protect it with a hand. Mon-El frowns in concentration, his grip tightening, and she gasps, staggering, and catches herself before she falls to her knees. The sheer malice of the magic is overwhelming, and his killing intent prods into her skin.

Mon-El watches her with an air of satisfaction, and distracted in his smug state, she murmurs a word, and his teeth sprout from his mouth. He shouts in surprise, casts a frantic countercurse, and she takes the opportunity to glance at the sidelines. Winn catches her eyes and mouths a few words. Lena stares at him in surprise, and he nods firmly.

Mon-El watches them communicate with narrowed eyes, and even more when she turns back to him with an expression of steely determination.

Lena tucks her wand under her arm and lets a drop of blood roll off her arm. She watches the drop hit the duelling platform, staining the wood a dark red.

‘Luthor blood spell,’ she says. ‘ _Aurum_.’

From the drop of blood spirals magic, gold and sparking, and it forms itself into the lean body of a tiger and growls.

Mon-El shouts countercurses as the tiger advances lazily toward him, and they bounce off like flies. He’s frantic, his wand moving in clumsy, jerky movements, eyes wide and afraid.

From the sidelines, a sharp breath. ‘What _is_ that?’ the Durmstrang headmaster demands as he stares at the Dark Wizard advancing with killing intent toward his best dueller. ‘Dark Practices are strictly-‘

‘It’s not a Dark Practice,’ Cat interrupts. ‘It’s a blood spell passed down through their family. That spell- _aurum_ \- is the progenitor of the boggart. What the boy- and the rest of us- are seeing is our worst fears, walking toward him. It’s one of the most effective chaos techniques in the wizarding world.’ She watches a bleeding, near-dead Lena stumble down the platform toward him, and closes her eyes.

Kara stares from the sidelines, watching her parents- her friends- James- Winn- Lena- _Alex_ \- all pale and bleeding, staggering down the platform, and turns away. _It’s a spell_ , she tells herself. _Nothing but a spell_.

There’s an inhuman cry, and the Nordic dragon boy leaps from the benches into the platform, reaching for the golden tiger. ‘Mama,’ he cries, and then it disappears with a flash of gold. He falls off the platform, and the siren girl catches him, setting him on his feet.

Mon-El blinks, focusses on Lena, and for a moment she wonders what he saw.

And then he screams, feral and enraged, and casts curse after curse after curse. They come so fast that Lena’s shield spell can barely keep up; she casts countercurse after countercurse, pushed onto the defensive. Blood spells are powerful but consuming- her magic is severely depleted, and her breathing is ragged by the time Mon-El starts to laugh.

‘Look at you,’ he says derisively, grinning at her torn robes, her pinched expression of concentration. ‘You wanna know why all your magic is gone?’

She glares at him, but it’s true. She has no magic left, and her reserves are enormous. _How?_ , she wonders. _It usually takes much longer for my magic to deplete completely._

‘You see, there’s this siren water spell,’ he drawls, confident in his victory, ‘which saps magic from one source and pushes it into another.’

Lena’s eyes widen. ‘So you cheated,’ she says, recalling how the girl hadn’t bothered casting any more spells, had barely put up a fight.

‘No. Not cheating. Just using my resources.’ He taps his chin and pretends to think. ‘What else… oh yes. The Ice Stealing spell. A thousand needles of ice, which sap magic when they touch your skin. No wonder you’re so weak now. Can’t even handle a few collecting spells.’ He smiles, sharp-edged and glinting with madness. ‘I wonder if you can handle this one?’

And then he raises his wand, and light sparks. Lena’s eyes widen, and Cat, still a little in shock, is just a _little_ too late in speaking a shield counter, and Kara’s already on her feet at the familiar feeling of an Unforgivable.

‘ _Crucio_ ,’ he says, and then suddenly there’s a brilliant flash of blue light. The slug falls from her torn robes to land on the ground, and it starts to grow, doubling- tripling- quadrupling in size, until it’s enormous enough to wrap around Lena completely. She rises into the air, held in a glowing blue bubble of magic. The _Crucio_ dissipates against the outer surface like it’s an _Anteoculatia_ instead of an Unforgivable. Lena sighs as magic floods her veins, filling her reserves, and the cut on her arm heals completely.

‘ _Hello_ ,’ comes a voice, echoing in the bubble. There’s something familiar in the wry curl of the word.

‘Hi, Katsūyu.’

‘ _That siren spell did a number on you. You look like death._ ’

‘Thanks,’ she says dryly.

‘ _Kara was going to throw herself in front of the Cruciatus for you_ ,’ Katsūyu says, and tilts Lena’s bubble toward Kara, who’s practically on the platform, staring up at the bubble. ‘ _I think you should marry her_.’

‘Shut your mouth,’ Lena says, colouring.

‘ _Hey,_ ’ Katsūyu says, mock-affronted, ‘ _who’s the one holding up this bubble again?’_

‘Is that a threat?’

‘ _Yes.’_ Katsūyu sounds unnecessarily smug. ‘ _Anything else before I drop you_?’

‘Why did you not disappear? Aren’t Patroni- Patronuses?- whatever- supposed to disappear?’

Katsūyu gives her a laugh distinctly reminiscent of joyful squelching. ‘ _I’m too classy to be a Patronus. No, I'm your great-great-great-grandmother, first of the Luthor bloodline. I_ created _the Luthor blood spells, including your precious ‘Rubeus’, so don’t get cocky.’_

‘That’s fake,’ Lena says disbelievingly. ‘You’re a slug.’

‘ _Watch it. My Patronus was a slug.’_

‘So now _you’re_ a slug and you’re my protector or whatever. Great. Where’s my Patronus?’

‘ _Your Patronus? Still somewhere in the Protector Realm._ ’

‘Really? What is it?’

‘ _A slug, probably_.’

Lena glowers. ‘I think I preferred you better when you didn’t talk. You can go back to being the tiny useless slug now.’

‘ _Kiss my ass, great-great-great-granddaughter,_ ’ Katsūyu- and apparently also Lutessa Luthor the First of Her Line- says cheerfully. ‘ _But first, I think it’s time for you to kick his_.’

And then the world returns to its normal state, Lutessa shrinking back into her normal sluggy body, and Lena raises her wand, the words already in her mind.

‘ _Optundo canis_ ,’ she says, and Mon-El goes flying, a red mark splashed across his cheek.

 

\--

 

‘I hereby declare Durmstrang disqualified for the use of an Unforgivable Curse,’ Cat says, as her snake familiar wraps around Mon-El’s ankles and dangles him gleefully from the chandelier. ‘And thus, this year’s victory goes to Hogwarts.’

Alex, her Auror’s robes rumpled from Kara’s bear hug, sighs, and presents the trophy to Cat, before putting Mon-El in a red binding charm and Apparating away with him. Kara bounds over to Lena, apologising her way through the crowd of people offering congratulations.

‘You’re okay, right?’ she says, for the tenth time. ‘Cause that was super cool, but also really scary, and for a moment I thought- well, I knew Headmaster Grant would be there, but also, you know-’

‘Kara,’ Lena says, cutting her off with a dopey smile. ‘I’m fine. Lutessa healed me completely.’

‘Okay,’ Kara says, looking vaguely unconvinced, and flashes Lutessa's pocket a quick smile. The eyestalks wave back at her. ‘Do you want some punch?’

Lena raises her full glass of punch.

‘Ah,’ Kara says, and then Cat materialises and shoves the trophy into Lena’s arms.

‘Proud of you, brat,’ she says, grinning. 

Kara starts to smile. Lena recognises it as the type of smile Kara always gets whenever she feels in the mood to pull Lena into some scheme or another, and before she can pull away, she's dragged up onto the table from her swarm of admirers.

‘The hero of Hogwarts!’ she proclaims. Hogwarts roars, chanting her name. Lena ducks her head, blushing, and then Kara turns to her.

‘You’re awesome,’ Kara says, and leans in to kiss her cheek, but Lena turns at the same time, and it culminates in a clumsy kiss, mouths settling together.

Lucy whistles, grinning, in the middle of interrogating the Durmstrang headmaster, and Lena, dazed, falls off the table.

Lutessa catches her with a bubble, snickering, and sets her back on the table, and Kara kisses her again.

And again, and again, and again, for forever.

**Author's Note:**

> optundo canis = bitch slap


End file.
